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New York Malpractice Insurance

New York Malpractice Insurance. A type of insurance purchased by health care professionals (and sometimes by other types of professionals, such as lawyers). It protects such professionals against potential negligence claims made by their patients and/or employers.

New York malpractice insurance covers bodily injury or property damage as well as liability for personal injury such as mental anguish. This includes the costs of defense and cost containment expenses.

New York malpractice insurance protects your company from negligence claims with rates as low as $67/mo. Get a fast quote and your certificate of insurance now.

Malpractice Insurance Policy Basics

New York malpractice insurance comes in several basic forms:

An occurrence policy provides coverage for alleged incidents (injuries) that happened during the policy year regardless of when the claim gets reported to the carrier. The claim can be reported at any time in the future, even if the policy has cancelled. The occurrence policy provides a separate coverage limit for each year the policy is effective. Occurrence policies offer a steady base premium that does not increase as the policy matures.

With a claims-made policy, an incident must happen and be reported to the insurance company while the policy is effective. As can be seen, this requires that coverage must extend for a significant period of time to provide adequate protection since a considerable amount of time may elapse between when an incident may have occurred and when a claim is made.

Tail insurance refers to a policy that the insured can purchase when he discontinues his claims-made policy. Tail coverage requires that the policy holder pay an additional premium. The issue, however, is that the additional premium coverage can be extremely expensive - sometimes 150 or even 200 percent of the price of a mature claims-made policy, depending on the medical specialty and the location.

Is NY Malpractice Insurance Mandatory?

There is no legal requirement to have medical malpractice insurance but it's important to protect yourself and your business against events you cannot foresee. Also, in today's society, people are increasingly ready to bring a claim against you if they feel dissatisfied - whether or not you are actually at fault. Claims can run into many thousands if not millions of dollars and having New York malpractice insurance could be the difference between a business being able to survive a claim or not.

Buying Medical Malpractice Insurance

When shopping for a NY medical malpractice liability insurance policy, most physicians focus on premium costs. But physicians shopping for a malpractice policy should also focus on getting the right coverage limits. A coverage limit is a provision in a policy under which the insurance company says that it will only pay for losses sustained by the policyholder up to a certain dollar amount. If limits are too low, the physician is needlessly exposed to personal liability. Too high, and the physician is paying for more coverage than needed.

Malpractice Insurance: Costs and Components

Claims-made policies tend to be less costlier than occurrence policies because of the smaller insurance company time exposure to claims. Some other factors that determine how much the policy costs include:

Physician or provider specialty (costs vary based upon exposure to risk).

What Does Malpractice Insurance Cover?

NY malpractice insurance covers several expenses involved in defending and settling the malpractice suit; it also pays the damages if you are found liable. The covered costs include: court costs, attorneys' fees, settlement costs, arbitration costs, and compensatory damages and medical damages.

Medical malpractice will usually not cover liability arising from criminal acts, sexual misconduct or alteration of medical records. Other typical exclusions are for: punitive damages and specialized procedures (e.g., radial keratotomy) for which coverage may be "bought back" in return for additional premium.

Handling Malpractice Claims

In most cases, in order for your insurance policy to provide you with coverage, you should notify the insurance company as soon as reasonably possible of the problem. If you do actually become involved in a claim or lawsuit, for example, you receive a summons and complaint, before coverage is activated, you must notify the insurance company right away. Always follow up an oral notice in writing.

Why You Need Malpractice Insurance

Even the most competent professional can make a mistake and should protect against that possibility. Defending a malpractice lawsuit is often expensive even when the defendant wins. Health care professionals win most malpractice lawsuits, but the legal system rarely allows for the recovery of expenses by the winner. Since the cost of defense is high and a loss can be devastating, this insurance product is essential to every practice.

New York Economic Data And Commercial Insurance Requirements

The State of New York is famed for industry, particularly Manhattan and the surrounding areas. As such, it's no wonder why so many entrepreneurs look to do business in this state.

If you are thinking about starting up a business in NY, it's important for you to have an understanding of the status of the state, regarding its economy. It's also important to know about the insurance requirements for business owners in the Empire state.

Below, we offer a brief overview of New York's economic status, as well as the types of insurance policies business owners are legally required to carry, and policies that they should consider investing in.

The Economic Status Of New York State

While the economy is growing in the State of New York, it is lagging behind other states, in terms of growth. Overall, more jobs have been added in this state in recent years. In 2018, it is expected that this trend in job growth will continue; however, it will likely be at a slower pace than previous years.

If you are thinking about doing business in the Empire State, one of the best industries to consider is finance. It is predicted that this sector will contribute largely to the economy in 2019, as well as in the coming years. Healthcare services and education are also expected to see growth, as are the transportation industry, and professional and business services.

Insurance Requirements For Business Owners In NY

The New York State Department of Financial Services regulates insurance in the Empire State. Organizations that employ a staff of part-time or full-time workers that are either hourly or salaried are required to carry workers' compensation insurance. This type of insurance is required, no matter what size your staff is; even if it only consists of one W2 salaried person. You must also carry NY commercial auto insurance if you are using a vehicle to conduct any business affairs.

While there are no mandates surrounding commercial liability insurance, business owners in New York would be wise to invest in this type of coverage. Should a client or a contractor sue you for an accident or injury that happens at your place of work, or if a client claims you damaged his or her property, commercial liability insurance will protect you from having to pay the cost of legal fees and any settlements that may be awarded out of your own pocket.

Additional Resources For Medical Insurance

Discover small business insurance for medical and dental professionals. Medical malpractice insurance is a type of professional liability that protects health care professionals from liability causing in bodily injury, medical expenses and property damage.

Professional liability offers protection against claims of malpractice for all sums that the medical professional becomes legally obligated to pay as damages because of rendering or failing to render professional services.

The coverage provided is often called medical malpractice. For decades, many involved in the health care field and insurance companies that provide insurance coverage to providers have stated that malpractice lawsuits have created an ongoing crisis of restricting insurance availability, due to loss of insurance companies that write the coverage and significant rate increases.

As a result, state legislatures have taken the following actions to address the situation:

Imposed a dollar limitation of liability for malpractice suits.

Modified statutes of limitation to limit the number of years that a suit may be brought against a physician following a negligent act.

Modified when the statute of limitations takes effect. An example is beginning from a negligent act's occurrence rather than from its discovery.

Passed laws to modify tort law procedures and doctrines that relate to malpractice.

Because of differences in law by state it is important to know the states in which the covered health care providers are licensed and regularly practice. Some health care providers may practice in multiple states because of their particular specialty, their reputation or the demand for their services. Some hospitals may have ownership in facilities or provide services to patients that are outside of their main location state.